Football 'heading' may lead to brain injury

Football players who regularly head the ball could be at increased risk of brain injury and cognitive impairment, experts have warned.

Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Centre in the US presented the findings of their latest study at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

The researchers performed advanced MRI scans on 38 amateur football players who were 30 years of age, on average, and had been playing the game since childhood.

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Participants were asked to recall how many times they had headed the ball during the previous year.

Analysis revealed that players who regularly headed the ball commonly showed signs of brain injury that were similar to those seen in people with concussion.

Further analysis revealed that significant injury was apparent in players who exceeded approximately 1,000 to 1,500 headers per year.

Lead author Dr Michael Lipton, medical director of MRI services at Montefiore, said: 'While heading a ball 1,000 or 1,500 times a year may seem high to those who don't participate in the sport, it only amounts to a few times a day for a regular player.

'Heading a soccer ball is not an impact of a magnitude that will lacerate nerve fibres in the brain. But repetitive heading may set off a cascade of responses that can lead to degeneration of brain cells.'

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